


Hush

by ofshadowsandstars



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Nonspecific timeframe, One Shot, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofshadowsandstars/pseuds/ofshadowsandstars
Summary: When she died, all was silent as the galaxy held its breath.--For Carrie.





	

When she died, it was quiet. Much of the planet around was asleep then, and so was she. She was dreaming, breathing, and then she was not. In the blink of an eye, her heart stopped and she was gone. No flare, no fuss, no pain.

When the sun came up, it was quiet. The creatures in the jungle were silent, and the normal jostle and constant murmur on the base was gone. No one was sure why, but it felt disrespectful to speak. Even the droids quit their beeping and flashing.

The planet was holding its breath.

When they found her, she looked like she was sleeping. She held the serenity of a sleeping body, the same gentle shut of the eyes.

But it was too quiet.

All was as she had left it; not a single one of her possessions was touched. A few people looked around and found books, maps, scribbled notes: all one would need in a revolution. When some of her things were put away, a single photograph was found among her clutter. In it was a young man smiling. 

Even after she was found and honored and buried, the planet continued to hold its breath. Pilots flew to other planets. They, too, were holding their breath. 

The whole galaxy was. 

 

A figure in black was quiet, but not silent. It paced back and forth, trying to think of a way to dispose of this pressure, this  _ burning  _ in the pit of his stomach and the back of his skull. 

_ Go away go away go away go away go away  _ he said constantly to the pain inside him. He was so, so angry.

He burned so hot and desperate that his anger and pain were constantly on the verge of boiling over and scalding all that came near him. He wanted to scream, to destroy, to inflict.

But it would have been too loud.

He stayed quiet, and continued to pace.

 

When she died, everything was quiet as the galaxy held its breath.

With the exception, however, of one spot in one corner with one person. A man, graying but strong, fell to his knees with a great gasp of pain. He wept as he had not in years, if ever. Hands clenched into grass and dirt, as if tangibility would heal his pain. In that spot, alone and sobbing, the man was the loudest point in the galaxy. He was for some time.

Once the time came, he released his hands from the dirt. His head raised, and he rocked back onto his knees. He sat there for some time before slowly, hesitantly, he stood up as half the man he was before.

And slowly, hesitantly, the galaxy released its breath.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it.


End file.
